3 months later and they get to meet!

Ever since James and I got married, besides my dad, another person that wanted us to have kids is my baby brother. My brother is 3 years younger than me and he's currently going to school to become a graphics design artist. I've seen a lot of his stuff and I'm really impressed at his talent and creativity! I think I missed out on that creativity gene but Matthew (my baby brother) has it in spades. When Alex was born, Matthew was suck in New Mexico all by himself. My parents were out here in Houston to support both James and me. Matthew had a lot of school work going on and midterms were coming up so he was pretty busy. Anyway, Alex and I were hoping to come out to New Mexico much sooner than now. However, Alex's doctor did not feel comfortable letting us go just yet. So now Alex is 3 months old and we're going to New Mexico in a few days but Matthew, being the considerate person he is, will be coming out here to help me fly out with Alex. I'm excited. It's been awhile, and Matthew finally gets to meet his nephew! Can't wait! This is a picture of my brother with a balloon under his shirt at my baby shower. What a nutter!

Hot house!

I got the hankering to make some Korean soups since it's been awhile. And I had to call my mom on how to make her beef broth. I remember she would spend DAYS or WEEKS boiling, making her own broth. I use to think she was crazy but now I see it's well worth it! So I'm currently making my own. I bought a couple ox tail bones (which I've only been able to find in an Asian market) and I had to make the initial boil to get the fat out. Now, I'm boiling more to make the thick broth. Then, I'll put them in sandwich bags and freeze them for later use. Here is the basic recipe:

Beef Broth

2-3 ox tail bones
1 HUGE pot

Fill the pot up with water, and add the bones. Bring to an initial boil then let it cool. Take the fat off the top of the water and add more. Boil for as long as needed to get a thick, dense color broth. Could take 2-5 days for the first time. Can use the same bones to make more, will need to boil longer.

How does your garden grow??

So I went to HEB today to get some food to make for dinner. There was a great sale on bratwurst, so I'm going to do Rachel Ray's Chianti brats. James LOVES them and has requested them a couple times, but I've been too lazy to make them. Another thing that is made with the brats is pesto pasta, and I usually use the regular basil and pinenuts for my pesto. As I was searching around HEB, I saw some real basil plants and I got SUPER excited! James and I were JUST talking about how I need to get started on my garden and more than anything, I want to grow my own herbs. I use to grow sunflowers and beans in my room when I was younger. Since we don't own the house we currently live in, I can't quite build my DREAM green house or garden yet. But I'm looking at some options and if I save enough, I may buy one of these and start my herb garden. I found it at Home Depot. My make shift green house ;-)

Fun Foto Friday!

Crib Time!

So tonight is the night! Alex is currently sleeping in his crib and will hopefully be like that for the night! We put his white noise machine in there, so he has some familiarity. He cried for a little while, but fell asleep. I just hope it lasts. I'm already extremely lonely without him, especially because James just left to work another overnight shift. Alex isn't quite 3 months old, but he was getting so huge for his bassinet, that a change really needed to be made. He's been pretty consistent sleeping 6 hours a night, and last night he actually slept 7 hours. So I hope this trend keeps up. He's growing so fast! Where does all the time go??

Live Long and Prosper

So my mother in law is coming next weekend to spend time with Alex. She said she wants James and I to have a date night, which would be great. James and I haven't really had a date night since Alex has been born. Well, we were talking about what we would do and we decided to go see the new Star Trek movie. I've heard a lot of great things about it and I'm VERY excited to see it. There are many reasons. But the biggest reason is that I'm truly a Trekkie. It's sad. I LOVE Star Trek. Now, I won't succumb to the Star Trek vs. Star Wars thing because I truly believe that Star Trek is mainly science fiction with a little fantasy and Star Wars is mainly fantasy with a little science fiction. Two completely different things, and I love them both. However, I have my father to blame for my true Trekkiness. Ever since I was born, I was watching Star Trek. I can quote Star Trek movies and I know stupid trivia because my dad and I would play trivia games AND we collected the Star Trek collectible cards. One thing I don't/won't do is learn Klingon. Sorry, I'm having trouble remembering Korean and that is a REAL language. So I really eagerly look forward to the new movie and my reviews on it. I know it's not like the old Star Trek and I don't expect it to be. That is one of the reasons that the last two Star Trek movies did so poorly is because they didn't appeal to a larger audience, just the die hard Star Trek followers. Anyway, if you've seen it, don't tell me anything! I don't want to know! I'm just waiting to see it with my own eyes!

Tonight I made James' favorite. It's from Cooking for 2, but I modified it a little.

Spicy Turkey Tomato Soup

1/4 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small onion, chopped (I prefer red onion, better crunch)
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned Mexican diced tomatoes
1/3 cup uncooked whole wheat spiral pasta
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 chopped green chile or 1 can of green chile
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper, optional (if you want it spicy)

Cook the turkey in a saucepan with a little olive oil. Season it with the garlic and black pepper. Add the zucchini and onion and cook till turkey is done. Add in broth, tomatoes, pasta, cumin, green chile and jalapeno. Let it simmer till pasta is tender, then serve.

Hubble Telescope

I have two zucchini loafs in the oven, my son asleep in his bassinet and my husband just left for his second overnight shift for NASA. While I'm waiting for the bread to finish, I'm just going to take a moment to explain how historic this shuttle mission is. To put it very briefly of what James does for NASA, he works for Boeing contracted to NASA. He studies the thermal signatures of the shuttle, to make sure it doesn't burn up or freeze. This mission is the last mission to the Hubble Telescope. The Hubble Telescope is located 300 nautical miles from Earth and it gives us an extended eye to the unknown universe. The Atlantis crew is going up to Hubble one last time to make final repairs. NASA hopes that these repairs would last Hubble about 10 years before it no longer works. Currently NASA is working on another telescope that will go out much farther than Hubble. One of the reasons that this mission is so dangerous is because IF something were to happen to the Atlantis shuttle, the Endeavour would have to launch in order to go up and save the crew. During normal missions, it is not a big deal because the shuttle is docked to the space station. But for this mission, there is no safe haven for the crew. The odds are there, but we're all praying that they are slim. Anyway, this is one last maintenance for the historic Hubble telescope. It has given us such beautiful images to look at. This image has often be referred to as "The Eye of God."Well, my zuchinni bread is done and I'm off to bed!

Fun Foto Friday!

I swear he wasn't crying! He was just sucking on his hand. Fun at Pac Sun!

Knives

So I was chopping up some green onion today and I was frustrated because I had to sharpen my knife, YET AGAIN! I use to think my mom was weird because every time she took out her knife, she sharpened it. Well, now that I cook all the time, now I need to have a sharp knife all the time. James loves watching "How It's Made" and he saw a special on ceramic knives. These knives are so awesome, you don't have to sharpen them! The Kyocera knives were featured and we decided to get them for my mom for Christmas one year. Keep in mind, my mom has been using a knife for decades. She can chop, peel, dice, slice.. Like no one's business. And when we got those for her, she actually cut herself! The reason being, the ceramic knives are deceptive. They are extremely light to the touch, but incredibly sharp! So another tool that I need for my kitchen someday... Going back to my green onion, I made Hot and Sour Soup today. Here is my recipe:

Hot and Sour Soup

4 cups of chicken broth
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 slices of tofu
1/4 lb mushrooms
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp black pepper
1 egg - beaten
1 cup bean sprouts
1 chopped green onion

Combine 1/4 cup of chicken broth and corn starch. Combine the remaining chicken broth, tofu, mushrooms, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, green onion and pepper over high heat. Mix well, bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, stir in the cornstarch mixture until it thickens. Slowly stir in the beaten egg to form egg strands. Add the bean sprouts and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Family! Woo hoo!

My dad came for two weekend visits to see Alex. During the week, he went to Alabama on business, so Houston was a half way point for him. Anyway, my daddy FINALLY got to spend some quality time with Alex. He got to feed, hold and burp him. But of course, when Alex dirtied his diaper, my dad said "I've already done it, it's Mom and Dad's turn." Apparently my dad was worried Alex was going to cry when they met, but it was quite the opposite. They both had a great time together. Here is a picture of my boys, just missing my brother!


My dad left yesterday afternoon. After we took my dad to the airport, James, Alex and I were just laying down for a short nap when we got the call that James' brother Ronnie, wife Eighmy and daughter Alina were coming to visit too! In case you don't know, Alex and his cousin Alina are the same age. Eighmy and I were both in labor at the same time. Alex was born at 1:53pm and Alina was born at 5:05pm. We haven't seen them since the babies were only a week old, so it was great to have them over. The babies got to see each other and everyone ate all of my oatmeal cookies! What the heck?! Anyway, here are some pictures to see the difference in sizes between Alex and Alina. As posted before, Alex weighs 17 lbs 7 oz and his cousin Alina is 10 lbs 12 oz.



Tonight I'm making Korean Yellow Croaker (have never found this except in Asian markets) and cooked tofu. For the Yellow Croaker recipe, I'm sure you could do this recipe for trout, or any other type of whole fish. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan on it in the future. They are my mom's recipes, very simple but extremely tasty:

Yellow Croaker

2 Yellow Croakers (fish)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder

Clean the yellow croakers and add the salt, pepper and garlic on the fish. Let it sit for an hour to marinate. Put the fish on a skillet, medium heat. Cover the fish and let it lightly brown on each side. Eat fish whole, make sure you warn those you serve it to! Look out for fish bones. We usually use chopsticks to eat this.

Cooked Tofu

1 package of medium firm tofu
1 tbl salt
1 tbl sugar

Cut the tofu into cubes and put into a bowl. Add the salt and sugar. Make sure each cube has some sugar and salt on them. Put the tofu on skillet on medium heat. Let it lightly brown on each side.

Four

Go to your fourth folder and post the 4th picture in that folder. Then tag 4 friends to do the same.

This is from Thanksgiving 2008. From the left: James, me, my mother in law Shirley, my sister in law Eighmy and my brother in law Ronnie. Eighmy and I were (obviously) both pregnant at this time and James was working over night shifts for the shuttle mission. He was running on energy drinks at that point. I tag James, Kara, Tina and my mystery friends!